Troy-Bilt FLEX Plug Aerator Review and Pictures

Last month, Troy-Bilt sent us the TROY-BILT FLEX Plug Aerator Attachment for review. We want you to know that Troy-Bilt provided the base FLEX system and all attachments to us for free; however, the thoughts in this review are entirely my own.

If you’re not familiar with the FLEX System, you can see it on Troy-Bilt’s site at this link. FLEX is composed of a base engine that powers many large yard tool attachments including a lawnmower, snowblower, aerator, and more. The advantage of FLEX is that you have to maintain only one engine all season long, you save storage space in your garage or shed, and if you buy enough of the individual attachments, you save money compared with buying individually-powered tools. (You’ll need to get at least 3-4 of the attachments in order to see an actual cash advantage vs. buying individual tools – so you have to be committed to the premise of the FLEX before it makes sense to buy the base and start accumulating attachments).

The drawbacks are that some tools aren’t quite as elegantly implemented as their individual tool counterparts. For example, the snowblower has no reverse gear (the FLEX base doesn’t offer reverse), whereas several competitor’s individual snowblowers do offer reverse. With the FLEX snowblower, you have to pull the unit back by hand. That said, the FLEX is a heavy duty system. It doesn’t come across as cheaply made at all, and we’ve been very happy with its performance.
FLEX Plug Aerator Attachment Review

The aerator attachment is a pretty simple and straightforward component. Unlike other FLEX attachments, the aerator itself is not powered by the base engine. Instead, the base unit’s wheels drive the aerator forward, and gravity (helped by up to 90 lbs. in cinder blocks placed over the spinning plug removers) does the rest.

3 Steps to Maximizes Your Business Resources

As an entrepreneur and business consultant, I’ve learned there are always ways to produce big-time results with small means. I start each project by focusing on two important concepts: effectiveness and efficiency. Effectiveness is achieving critical objectives for growing your business; efficiency is doing it with as few resources as possible.

Here’s a simple analogy to illustrate these two concepts. Suppose you have a bee buzzing around your kitchen that’s driving you crazy. Your objective is to get rid of it (effectiveness). One solution is to grab a sledgehammer from the garage and start swinging away. While this approach will eventually kill the bee, it takes a lot of energy and will do serious damage to your kitchen. The more common solution is to start chasing the bee around your house with a fly swatter, which will also kill the bee but still requires some effort on your part. A third solution is simply to open a door and let the bee fly away. While all three solutions are effective in getting rid of the bee, the third is by far the most efficient. It requires less time and fewer resources.

4 Ways to Stay Motivated and Grow Your Business

1. Revisit your purpose

It’s important to constantly revisit the reason why you started your business. Make sure it’s still engaging. Decide if it needs to be altered or amended. Reflect on other compelling reasons for building your business. If you fail to do this at regular intervals, you can get hung up in the “what” and “how” of running your company and forget why you started it in the first place. Remember, if you have a strong “why,” you can get through any “what” and “how.” This process will keep your zealous tenacity engaged.

While revisiting your purpose, also reflect on the advantages of business ownership. Remember that boss who drove you crazy on your last job? Well, now you get to call the shots. You can create your own strategy. You can hire who you want. You can make changes quickly. You can fix things that don’t work. You can operate according to your own values. You can build equity in your business. And you can go to your kids’ soccer games and school assemblies. Reflecting on the advantages of ownership -- as opposed to being unengaged in a corporate structure -- will help keep your zealous tenacity alive.

Why Orcas Island Taxi Is Getting Big Business From a Small Island

In Start Your Own Transportation Service, the Staff of Entrepreneur Media explains how you can launch a profitable transportation service, whether you want to start a long-haul operation or an in-town service. In this edited excerpt, the authors provide a closer look at an existing taxi service so you can learn for yourself what it’s like to run a transportation business.

If you're thinking about starting a transportation business, learning how existing transportation service entrepreneurs got started and are running their businesses can help you figure out if this industry is a good fit for you. To get started, here’s the story of Orcas Island Taxi, which Charles “Eric” Whitehead started after a construction job dried up.